Friday, May 31, 2013
2013 American Peony Society Board Meeting
The American Peony Board meeting was attended by most members this year. I was the newest member, having been asked to replace a member that needed to resign his duties. We approved last year's meeting notes and treasury report. The board decided to approve $5,000 in funding to rejuvenate the American Peony Society web site. There are plans to add lots more pictures for all of the American Peony Society Gold Medal Winners, some other photo galleries, as well as update the layout to make the information more available and friendly to users. The APS also plans to communicate official press releases via its web site. Lore and I also discussed ways to survey our membership to find out what we could offer existing and potential future members as well. The 2013 APS Gold Medal Winner was also selected from 6 nominated peonies: Peony 'Cora Stubbs', Peony 'Diana Parks', Peony 'Eliza Lundy', Peony 'Lucky', Peony 'Mackinac Grand', and Peony 'Mahogany'. The president also announced plans to name a peony after a prominent person and peony lover at tomorrow's banquet, as well as potential future flower naming ceremonies. The location of next year's convention was announced as the Kingwood Center in Mansfield, OH.
2013 APS Peony Convention Longwood Garden Tour
Longwood Gardens Entrance
The 2013 American Peony Society Convention started today, and I arrived to the garden tour a little late since I had an early flight this morning. However Longwood Gardens was magnificent, and their staff took great care of me - arranging someone to transport me directly to my APS group who were enjoying the Longwood Gardens "Behind the Scenes" tour.
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Lunch was in the Longwood Gardens' The Founders Room dining room, and it tasted fabulous. We dined on gourmet sandwiches, salad, pasta salad, fresh fruit, and brownies. Yum!
American Peony Society Lunch in Longwood Gardens' Founders Room
After lunch there was a bit of free time to explore the gardens before the APS Board Meeting. The gardens were awesome. There were endless views of open fields that made you want to just run and sing and play. There was a bell tower with harmonious chimes, a waterfall, a large display fountain, an almost endless conservatory, a topiary garden - the list goes on and on. An entire weekend is not enough time to explore the vastness of Longwood Gardens.
Longwood Gardens Fountain
The Longwood Garden "Peony Garden" was a bit of a disappointment since there were only tree peonies that were past their bloom season. Longwood Gardens did have 3 sections dedicated to herbaceous and intersectional peonies that were donated by the American Peony Society last fall. Surprisingly, many of these plants were in bloom! They also had several wonderful and more mature selections of some existing herbaceous peonies in their perennial border which were just gorgeous.
Me Exploring Longwood Gardens
(I Found the Purple Flowers!)
After the board meeting we enjoyed a "Taste of Philly" picnic dinner with Philly cheesesteak sandwiches and chips for the meal and baked goods and Hershey (PA) chocolate for dessert. All in all, Longwood Gardens is a great place, one I hope to visit again in the future. :-)
Thursday, May 30, 2013
2013 American Peony Society Convention Preparation
Wow, I can hardly believe that another peony bloom season is coming to an end. Also tomorrow I will be in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania for the 2013 American Peony Society Convention. It seems this spring has gone by so fast. There's been a lot to do this spring garden wise and life wise. So things have definitely been pretty busy. I am excited to get to the convention, though. I am curious to learn more about the DuPont family and their estate, museum, collections, art, and especially their gardens. I'm also excited to see all of my peony family, to hear the stories of their bloom season, see some of their favorite flowers from their gardens, and hopefully meet some new seedlings that may be introduced in future years. I'm also looking forward to the APS banquet, seed sale, and of course the APS auction! Hopefully some of you will be there too! :-)
Kennett Square, PA
Kennett Square, PA
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
2013 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions Grow
I thought you might like an update on my intersectional peony divisions from my 2012 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions. I was surprised to find last week, that even the division with no roots and old wood has started to grow!!! I am just amazed by this plant's earnestness and vitality. All of the divisions have really taken off. Peony 'Bartzella' has proven to be just a stellar plant in my garden. The tiny red growth from early spring in my 2013 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions has turned into flourishing plants. One of these small divisions even has a flower bud on it! I have since given that one to my grandma, but the rest of them are doing great and still growing! I am also planning to donate another one of these Peony 'Bartzella' divisions to the 2013 American Peony Society Fundraiser Auction. So if you'd like a chance to bid on a stellar peony for Southern gardens, please join us at the 2013 American Peony Society Convention at
Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania!
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with Small Roots Growing 4/12/2013 | |
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with Small Roots Growing 5/27/2013 | |
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with Tiny Roots Growing 4/12/2013 | |
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with Tiny Roots Growing 5/27/2013 Gave the Peony 'Bartzella' Plant on the Right to My Grandma | |
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No Roots Growing (New Wood) 4/12/2013 | No Roots Not Growing (Old Wood) 4/12/2013 |
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No Roots Growing (New Wood) 5/27/2013 | No Roots Growing! (Old Wood) 5/27/2013 |
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No Roots Growing! (Old Wood) 5/27/2013 | |
Monday, May 27, 2013
2013 Peony Blooms Late - Week 6
This week, Week 6, has been a nice week as far as the weather goes. The rain was sprinkled with sunshine. However most of the peonies have bloomed by now. I think Week 4 and Week 5 were probably the height of my peony bloom season, which was nice since I hosted a baby shower for my brother and his wife last weekend. Lots of friends and family got to see my garden in bloom and everyone was asking what kind of flower they were and how they could grow them. It is always nice to share the love of peonies. They are just such a great plant and beautiful flower! Currently there are only a few plants that haven't opened yet, and some plants that still have some side buds opening. This is one advantage of peonies that have multiple buds per stem. Usually the multiple buds on one stem will open on different days, extending the bloom period of that peony variety. This is especially nice near the end of the bloom season when there are only a few blooms left and the season is almost over. You can still get some small flowers to enjoy or bring inside.
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